Expat Usa News

A possible Brexit backlash by Spanish government legal advisors is set to threaten many hundreds of court cases brought by expats.
Spain’s Directorate General of Registrars and Notaries, the equivalent regulatory body of the UK’s Notaries Society, recently issued a ruling cancelling the validity of powers of attorney issued by UK Notaries Public. The reason given by the Directorate General was that the British qualifications, authority and competence of UK Notaries Public is below that of their Spanish equivalents.
Briefly put,...

According to advisors in the UAE, the possibility of a hard Brexit is forcing UK expats to drastically re-evaluate their long-term investment plans.
Daily rhetoric from UK government sources still suggests a hard Brexit is the preferred option even although the likely result is financial hardship and a drastic fall in the value of sterling on the world markets. For Brit expats working in the UAE, the continuing exchange rate turbulence has resulted in sterling’s 14.9 per cent drop against the Qatari riyal, affecting expats living on...

The increasing financial burden of international standard education for the children of expats is now a major problem.
As the world economy stutters and relocation packages are replaced by local contracts, the ever-increasing fees changed by international schools overseas are becoming a major problem for expat families. As a result, globally mobile expats are being advised to stay firm on education costs when negotiating salaries and benefits.
The situation is becoming critical, with more and more expat parents deciding to...

Leaving your home country to become an expat isn’t just about shipping yourself, your goods and your family to a new country, nor is it just about jobs and visas. Moving overseas, whether for retirement, career advancement or simply a much-needed lifestyle change take months of research and planning, but the story doesn’t end once you’ve boarded the plane.
Even if you’ve successfully ticked all the practical boxes, you may not have realised the subtle adjustments necessary to get through your first few months in a strange...

Over the past year, over two thousand retired British expats have been forced to repatriate to the UK due to their state pensions being frozen.
Official figures from Britain’s Department for Work and Pensions show several thousand British citizens who’d chosen to live overseas In retirement were forced to return to the UK due to their state pensions being frozen. Many of the returnees had lived abroad long-term and were no longer able to support themselves on the original amounts paid at the time they left the UK.
The data was...

Despite paying a local shipper thousands of dirhams to transport their belongings back to their home countries, former Dubai residents still haven’t received their shipments.
The situation strongly resembles the 2014 Dubai Relogulf incident, where expats were left without their personal goods and household items for many months. Those affected at the present time are certain the man who represented the shipping company Expat Relocations is the former Relogulf managing partner operating under another name.
Relocating expats who...

Thailand’s ruling military government last week approved the issuing of a new 10-year visa aimed at wealthy expats with heathcare needs.
The requirements for the new 10-year visa have created controversy amongst Thailand’s large expat community, many of whom are retirees from Europe and the USA at present on the so-called annual ‘retirement visa’ extension. The new visa is to be offered to foreigners over 50 years of age, and requires either monthly earnings of 100,000 baht (£2,261, $2,810) or a deposit in a Thai bank account...

Ireland has been a safe haven for foreign direct investments for decades, along with thousands of expat professionals and managers who find it the preferred place to live and work.
In spite of its troubled past, the cool, green Republic of Ireland has become a popular refuge for expats from across the Western world. Since the financial crash and subsequent recession, a new wave of immigrants has arrived and settled into the laid-back life of the country.
The expat community in Ireland is truly international, with Americans, Asians,...

Of all the diverse cultural differences between China and the West, its exotic range of regional cuisines is one of the most controversial for expats.
New arrivals from Western countries believe they are familiar with Chinese cooking due to the growth of Chinese restaurants across the entire Western world. What they maybe don’t appreciate is that said eateries tend to cut back on certain ingredients in order to satisfy Western tastes.
Sichuan cuisine is the perfect example of a regional culinary tradition modified to suit those...

American expats living and working in Europe are having a hard time explaining Trump’s presidential election victory to their European friends and co-workers.
Many Americans living in Europe are facing awkward questions form their local colleagues and friends about the shock result of the recent USA presidential election. Europeans and Britons are desperate to find out how the Donald managed to win, given the controversial tone and content of his campaign with its attacks on women and minorities and revelations of sexual assault....